Variety (Jun 1945)

31 RADIO REVIEWS VXfilEfY Wednesday, June 13, 19 IS "THE ADVENTURES OF TOPPER" With Roland Young, Fa' 1 ' Mann, Frances Chaney, Hope Emerson Writer: Stanley Wolf Director: Kirby Hawkes '30 Mins.; Thurs., 8:30 p.m. GENERAL FOODS WEAF-NBC, N. Y. (Benton & BowtesS This is the Roland Young show packaged by Stanley Wolf.'who also supervises the scripting, that's been, on the verge o£ sponsorship for some mouths. Lipton Tea was all set tp buy it some time ago but changed its mind at the last minute. Now it s been acquired by General Foods as the summer replacement show tor Frank Morgan, although spotted in - GE_s£grn^fj£acate.dJiv_ for the hot months. A radio serialization of the late Thorne Smith's 'Topper" character (Young also appeared in the two "Topper" pix). it's probably the poorest of the three media as a laugh getter. For while that "ectoplasmic metamorphosis" and the ''material- ization" of the Kirbys out of thin air reads good on paper and was even enhanced in the film treatment, there were long stretches on last Thurs- day's (7) opening program ;th'at were singularly unfunny. For basically the laughs stem from the succession . of "visual" stunts perpetrated by the pair of spirits that "have to work their, way up to heaven" and not from the lines themselves. Thus, to conjure up the proper, vision, it be- comes necessary via the radio adap- tation to virtually "blueprint" .the "ectoplasms" and describe the move- ments, which go far toward nullify- ing the laugh content. (The way that Post Toasties commercial was worked into the script, incidentally, is one -for the-books; you-have to hear it to believe it.) From a casting standpoint, there's no fault with "Topper," with Young, of course, a natural for the title role. Paul Mann. Frances Chaney and Hope Emerson as the other* prin- cipals are also okay. But judging from the opener "Topper" isn't the answer to good radio comedy. Rose. THE DUNNINGER SHOW With Dunninger, Bill Slater, Marilvn Day, Mitchell Ay res orch. Andy Love vocal group . Producer: Ted Huston Writer: Earl Kennedy V- '" 30 Mins.; Fri., 10 p.m. LEVER BROS. WEAF-NBC, N. Y. iRuthravff & RyatO Second attempt to put "master mentalist" Dunninger over as a net- work attraction shapes up as a me- lange of unrelated bits with the wizard spotted on three different occasions performing telepathic feats of unbelievable proportions. In fact, his stunts are so remarkable that it's doubtful it even the most gullible "at home" listener could be con- vinced Dunninger wasn't reading all the answers oft a huge blackboard in the studio with the audience and judges sworn to secrecy. ! The guy ought to miss once in a "while, or at least stumble and evince a shade of uncertainty, You can't help but get the reaction that, if he can pick one single word off the front page of a Houston. Tex., news- paper picked at random bv a con- testant. Dunninger should be able to 'come up with the answer to whether or not Hitler is dead. and. if so. "where's the body'.'" And he can't get away with the gag about having to get mental impressions because millions of people all over the world are concentrating on . those very questions. C'nion. Dunninger. where's Adolf? We're concentrating. Mentalist's best spot on preem of summer replacer for Amos 'n' Andy (8-t was opener which found him working with hand mike in the audi- ence. This gave him a chance to confound seatholders by telling them their names, addresses" phone num- bers, etc.. and his tag line, '% box of Rinso for the lady, please" might have a Chance of catching on despite it's, obvious roots in "Dr. I.Q.'s" gift- making slogan on the Mars candy ■ airer. Before the very eyes of judges June Havoc, editor Dan Misch. of. . Look" mag. and Lt. Bill Robinson, first Army man to meet With Rus- sians in Naziland. Dunninger stood .40 feet away and X-ray ^eyed the name, address and point of origin on a prize-seeking letter and then di- vulged two. not merely one. names froni page 50 of the New York tele- phone book apd added the addresses arid phone numbers for good meas- ure. All this while reassuring every- one that he had no way of knowing beforehand what names were going to be designated. They're marvelous tricks, all right, but a little bit'too marvelous, perhaps, for the folks at home listening in. Stunts are tied in With cash awards as mail pullers on a challenge basis. .-; • Rest of new. Rinso program has Bill.Slater as. emcee and' salesman and he turns in a first-rate job. com- bining enthusiasm and sincerity in the proper proportions to make plu" segments of the stanza listenable and at the.same time profitable for the bankroller. Plugs'are tied in Duri- nmger-wi.se with latter getting im-. piessions that Slater has something to say, Dunninger's right as always because Slater comes right back with something .to say about Rinso. In these instances, though. .Dunninger doesn't deny that he gets his im- pressions from the Earl Kennedy script. Musically the show has Mitchell Ayrcs orch dging a good job with newcomer Marilyn Day and an Andy Love combo , on hand for vocal chores. Former trilled "Dreams Are Getting Better" and "I Should Care" on show caught. ..•'.••, Point, "THE ABBOTT MYSTERIES" — j ("The Brown Paper Bag") I With Julie Stevens. Chuck W eus ter, .lean Ellyn, Luis Van Rooten. Louis Soi'in, Sidney Slon; announcer, Frank Gallop • '..''. Director: Roger,Bower Writer: Howard Merrill 30 Mins.; Sun.. 6 p.m. ' HELBROS WATCH CO. ! WOR-Mutual. N. Y. iWeiiltratibi j Hardly believable was the story I'upon which the first of the new Mu- 1 trial whodunit series.. "The Abbott i Mysteries." was based last Sunday (10 i; And if author Howard Merrill \ continues to put together so many 'loose ends into one broadcast each week, he's going to find himself with- l out any listeners worth Hooperizing i before very long. • v . : •'; |.' The hero and the heroine, as well.' sound like a couple of graduates of Harvard, far out of character. They, too, will have to come from out of the Upper stratas to. give this new- comer some mass appeal. ■ Initial airer found the newlywcd Abbotts, played by Chuck Webster and Julie Stevens, involved in a Nazi escape plot while on their Mexican honeymoon. In a trek through Mex- ico City, they track down the group of enemy agents with the. help of. an actress and her USO troupe and a romantic Latin copper. There was "something in there, too. about $1.- 000.000 of escape dough. But. after about 10 minutes, one lost interest, since the goings-on were too un- believable for comfort. Direction by Roger Bower lacked pace, and those Helbros Watch com- mercials weve overlong. coming as they did in the midst of the proceed- ings. Organ background by Hank Sylvern kept the proceedings en- livened in good musical taste. ■ Sfen. Jolson's 'Ham' Shot Al Jolson. after refusing all sorts of guest-shot- radio offers during his Gotham stay, did one for Millon Berle (Eversharp) last week,' frankly'because "the 'ham' in me, I guess, made me give in," to quote the. star. "I. liked the miniature cavalcade of songs it permitted me." Jolson was never better, it was generally conceded, as he re- prised a tabloid autobiog in song. And an impressive record it is. dating from the Winter Garden through his historic contribution to soundpix with "The Jazz Singer" and into radio. Jolson's guest-shot fee was .$3,000—recently" he got $5,000 from—Lux for -a--Stephen Foster.... program—but what made him do it was because he wanted "Erie's folks in Arkansas to hear me." Kile Chennault Galbraith is the new Mrs. Jolson and hails from Little Rock. She is related to General Chennault. - -. Abel tion to veterans of this war, reckoned at $750,000. A. slight stiffness among the speak- ers, making it sound as if they might be reading a script, was apparent to critical ears, and an opening band recording came right off the cob. A series of crowd noises, culminating in cries of "Taxes, taxes," 'might be more effective. The fadeout music, a sickly semi-classical ' intermezzo, provided a p'ale ending for what had otherwise been a concise, clever handling of a problem which be- comes, more pressing with the ap- proach of reconversion. ' Bran. "THE DOCTOR FIGHTS" With Cary Grant, Lee Cobb, Lurene Tuttle. Peter Leeds, Joseph Kearns, Cathy Lewis, others; James Well- ington, announcer I Writer: Milton Geiger Music: Leith Stevens Producer-Director: Dee Englebach 30 Mins.; Tues.. 9:30 p.m. SCHENLEY LABORATORIES WABC-CBS, N. Y. (.Biotr) . For the second successive summer. Schenley labs have skedded the CBS "Cresta Blanea" spot as a tribute to .the U. $. medical profession from the organization's penicillin.division. This year, like -last, "The Doctor Fights" promises to be a hard-hit- ting, well-paced show. It remains to be seen whether the program will gain or lose in comparison with 1944 by featuring a different guest star instead of establishing narrator-con- tinuity as it did a year ago through Raymond Massey. . Fact is. though, that the teeoff stanza (5) was of very high caliber. Cary Grant had the principal role on the preem. which told the storv of Major Livingston Pope Nobell. Jr., a 29-year-old physician who could have Red to safety when the Japs took Balaan. but chose instead to stay on. with the litter cases.: Dr. Nobell went through the "death march." prodded by Japanese bay- onels. and wound up at Sanlo Tomas . prison camp where he was rescued when MaCArthur returned to the Philippines. Playing two other major charac- ters were Lee Cobb as another U. S Army doctor, and Lttrene Tuttle as an American Army nurse. It was a toss-up belween the two men as to which did his part better, both of them performing very capably. But i there was no doubt that the sock performance iii the piece was given | by Miss Tuttle. Dee Englebach as producei-direc- I tor deserves a bow for full-bodied I production and smooth, at times sen- jsilive. direction. And the music of ■Leith .Stevens- was something verv | special. What happens too rarely in dramatic radio took place on this show. Every bridge was a real span, irv both tone and- mood, from' ono ac- tiotl or emotion to another Too | often, music bridges do nothing but | fill, a short span of time: here the music was part of an integral whole meaningful and mealy. : . T,le 'story was documentary, point- ing up not only the heroism of the" American medical personnel in the hands of (he enemy, but the "nature ol the enemy ' too. As .such, it be- came a positive contribution to the fight in the Pacific. At the end of he show.. Dr. Nobell himself was in- terviewed briefly; his cool. ■ temper- ate, voice added to the value of the stanza, giving the listener greater confidence in the men who must fin- ish the job in the field before V-J Day is a reality. The fact that this show wpnt on tor a second summer is further proof of the fallacy .in the thinking that sets warm wealhel- aside for pop music and sheer escapism. "Doctor" is excellent all-weather fare Cars HARRY JAMES ORCH. With Kitty Kallcn. Buddy DeVUo Producer: Bill Livingston . Writer: Bob Smith 30 Mins.; Fri.. 10:30 p.m. PABST BREWING WABC-CBS, N. Y. iWcinciei. & Leglery. Harry James' orchestra, replacing Danny Kaye for the summer (il pro- vides background for him during the regular series), turned out a neat musical job on its first show Friday i8>. However, since James is not be- ing supplied with any guest talent or other ideas, his show necessarily m.Ust:JJe_egmpared with an ordinary remote"pickup. '.-• ; r ..." In his pacing. James made his first broadcast, done from Halloran Hos- pital. N. Y. I all shows will emanate from service hospitals in the N. Y. area during James' stay at the Aslor hotel, N. Y.), as interesting as pos- sible.' Beside the usual pops and originals, well played, he came up with a new tune written by an Army captain titled, "I Walked My Post in a Military Manner." It was sung by a Wac. Patricia Lindman. who dis- played a voice of good quality. An- other highlight of the show was an arrangement in various tempi of "Tea for Two," featuring also saxist Willie Smith. . While broadcasts from the usual makeshift facilities in Army and Navy camps and hospitals usually provide a poor balance for orchestras of any type. James' band came over exceptionally well. There was no excuse, however, for the occasional faults of monitoring, one of which hindered Buddy De Vito's "Laura." Kitty Kallen did one tune this show, a click iob on "I'm Beginning to See the Light." Commercials, delivered by a sing- ing group and spoken, were frequent and reminiscent of morning soap operas and station break plugs. Wood. "STARLIGHT SERENADE" Willi Nestor Chayres, Bea Wain, Al- fredo Antonini orch, Del Stmt butt Director: Roger Bower "Writer:". Agency Stall " ~ .'— ••• - 1 - 30 Mins.: Thurs., 9:30 p.m. CONTI SHAMPOO WOR-Mutual, N. Y. iBermmuhain. Cnslleiiinn & Piercel Hot "weather replacer for "Treas- ure Hour of Song" bowed in over Mutual. Thursday night (7) and shapes up as a pleasant musical seg- ment featuring the robust Spanish tcnoring of Nestor Chayres, cur- rently featured in Billy Rose's "Con- cert Varieties." together with Bea Wain and Alfredo Antonini's smooth instrumental combo. Latter is hold- over from "Treasure Hour." Themer has Chayres singing a Latin-American heart warmer in ils native, tongue with the Espanola lyrics carrying over through the greater portion of his contribs. Miss Wain didn't appear to be in best voice on preem. this being especially noticeable during the last of her two songs, "Time On My Hands." She -sounded-better--on-"Anywhoi-e--and seems a sure bet to cash in as the series progresses with her distinctive style a definite asset in this day and age when most gal warblers sound so much alike. -There's no mistaking the Wain voice and phrasing, how ; - ever. Chayres turned in a neat perform- ance from his opening "You Belong to My Heart" right on through a sock lineup including ballads and a paso doble as his finale. Antonini's crew likewise cashed in playing sambas, a tango and the familiar ' Dreams Are Getting Better." Commercials by Del Sharbutt are introed inoffensively and, for the most part, stress purity of product along with an unmistakable infer- ence that Conti shampoo will "make you beautiful." "Starlight" seems well equipped to hold down itslum- mer assignment. Doitn I "TAXPAYERS MEETING OF THE AIR" •' With Charles Hansbury, Charles Bickel, Anne McCarthy, George E. Stringfellow, guest; Jerry Roberts, announcer i Writers: Hansbury and Lee Hirsch I Director: Hansbury { 15 Mins.; Tues., 8:45 p.m. Sustaining WAAT-N. J. State Network, Newark This lively, politically hep talk j session, caught on its 36th airing (5). I could serve as a model of radio used as a beneficient propaganda outlet. The show is put together in a style which makes the minutes fly and the message—more awareness of where taxes go—emerges clearly and with- out partisan bias. Only giminick is offering of a free booklet. "On Guard for You in 1945." explaining aims of central organiza- tion, New Jersey Taxpayers Assn.. Inc.. and urging listeners to join j community branches. Program is i spread out over state, via outlets in j Trenton. Bridgeton, in southern sec- tion.' Newark, for metropolitan area I and Easton. Pa., to hit the farm belt. I General effect resembles an iri- - t'mate'ehat. Charles Hansbury, with a slight rural twang on some sylla- i bles. delivered a spiel from "the j State House steps." to the effect that Jersey will spend $80,000,000 begin- jning July 1, then told how .'bills i passed this year .will affeci^exMndi- ture. i.e.. transfer of Highway Fund ! to State Treasury, long a sore po'in; | in Jersey: establishment of a State ■ University at Rutgers, with im-' . portant changes of government per- ! sonnel also noted, j There was a quick switch to Bickel ; and Anne McCarthy, dialoging the i association's platform, which seems to--aim in the direction of lower ' taxes. At this point. Bickel intro- i duced. George Ev" Stringfellow, Re- j publican "and a y.p. of Edison Indus- ! tries, who asked a full turnout at approaching primaries. Stringfel- low's theme was. "citizens get the sort of government they, deserve" and that improvement in government must begin with more intelligence at the polls. ' For a rapid windup. a question period contained answers as to the cost of the war to date, on the Fed- eral level: Federal payroll, which costs each person in the United States $33.35 per year, and the pay- ment of unemployment compensa- "ONCE UPON A TIME" With George Waight. George Secord, Kay Parkin, Roy Locksley Orch, Chorus Producer: Esse W. Ljungh Writer: Ray Darby Music: Roy Lockslev Narrator: Jack Scot* 30 Mins.; Sun., S p.m'. Sustaining ■ . CKY-CBC, Winnipeg "Once Upon a Time." summer CBC replacement for "Ozzie and Harriet." is one of the smoothest airers to come over the Canadian webs since the crystal set went out. Displaying exceptional cooperation between writer, producer and the man with the baton, this 13-week series al- though designed for the juves. will have the adults leaning on it like Pod plays with Junior's toy train Slick production, on-the-button tim- ing, boff scripting and music, blended to a. super-silk schedule, make Once' probably the "something new the industry has been Sher- locking for. at least in the way of musi-drama. If the rest of the shows Fh the list, all written by Darby hit the standards this one set (3) Canadian dialers are sitting pretty for the hot days. ' '"Once" teed off with an air ver smn of Darby's juve best-seller. Peter Smith and the Bugs." Done in easy verse, story told of a six- year-old friend of the insects who cot a present of a trip through in- sect land. Reduced to bug-size he went to a party on an ant hill, heard the beetle band give out. caught a sky show by dragonfly B-29s. The music was cued to plav as important a part as any of the characters and songs were Dlenty -but refused to in- terfere with the general effect. The only clean-up to. suggest would be substitution of straight lines for the verse. Dialers wilt find themselves waitinc for the .rhyme rather, than the story. Vocals were handled by unbilled but okav warblers. Music songs, script and story were per- fectly balanced. Waight Winnipeg banker and vet stock and radio man. played the kev spot as the spider for all he had but not overmuch. Secord, top 'Peg air actor, okav as the ancient beetle who settled all problems. The Peter role got a boff doing by Kay Parkin and the narration-in-vei'sc bv Scott topped any previous CBC voicing. ' Incidentally, sound effects were few. most of them worked into the original Locksley score more by sug- gestion than by actual sounds.' With a happv Sun. p.m. spot, and the CBC rrans-Canada net to play on. the Once" series is due for a pop sum- mer run. There's a sizable possibility radio can find in il a medium for bringing musieomedv .to the air in its best form. . Gorm. THE STl'ART KKU'lN SHOW With Erwin, Peggy Conklin, Pert Kelton, Cameron Andrews, Milen* Miller, Jay Blackton orch, chorus, John Reed King, unnouncer Writer: Leonard L. Levinson Director: Bill Wllgns 30 Mins.; Moil., 10:30 p.m. BALLANTINE ALE WABC-CBS, N. Y. U, Waiter Thompson) Ballanline unwrapped its new CBS show Monday night (11> bringing Stuart Erwin back to radio in his first permanent spot since' that co- star venture with Jack Oakie in the "Camel Caravan" back in '37. In a bid to hypo interest in the 1(1:30-11 p.m. slot, the client has ripped out the whole stooge-struck format, switching over to situation comedy, though retaining .(.at least until his contract runs out) its ex-headliner," Cameron Andrews, who's relegated to a supporting role. The Jay Black-, ton orchestra also stays put. but Otherwise Ballanline is starling from scratch, with Peggy Conklin play- Ling the femme lead and Pert Kelton I also woven into the continuity. With a little.'patience on the part of Ballantiiie. (and Obviously the sponsor must have plenty of it after that long-run succession of gag show fiascos'! this one may eventually wind lip; as a pleasant, listenable hall-hour entertainment, Not that Monday's initialer. however, pro- vided any guarantee. For the open- ing program was woefully lacking in script material. Few of the laughs stemmed from the basic situation comedy but were the result of sup- plementary gags or extra-curricular characters. . Apparently what they have in niind for this Erwin show is to build it into a Fibber McGee & Molly formula-,'with the-aim of projecting . characters with the warmth and un- derstanding that have distinguished those Don Qiiinii scripts. All of which may take a very long time. But it's also gonna requite a much better scripting job than the open- ing show provided. Basically it's the one thing that a comedy show of this type requires—good scripting. The principals, on their part, appear capable of lending it animation. But thoseWere pretty feeble lines Erwin was forced to play around wjth on. Monday. Program's two breaks spotted Blackton's orch and chorus, and vo- calist Milena Miller, in the first, for a rendition of "I'm Gonna Love That Guy," with a singing Ballantine com- mercial and some Falslafl'ian ver- sifying in the second break. Only extensive commercial of the "3-Rinn 'Beverage" was at opener, with John Reed King doing the copy treatment effectively. Rose. "TODAY AND TOMORROW" ,- With Kvyctt Holies, James A. Don- nelly, John Russell, Maurice F. McElligott, William Sullivan Producer: Fred Kilian 30 Mins,; Sat., 4 p.m. Sustaining WBBM, Chicago Aimed: to clarify the listeners' minds with respect to the various changes that are taking place in the social and economic world, and more or less to offset conflicting reports put out by Governmental agencies, this new informative panel series could well be copied by other sta- tions in various sections of the na- tion as a public service feature of great value. Naturally this program deals with problems as they wilt affect the Chicago area. Taking part in the opening dis- cussion, entitled "My Job" were James A. Donnelly, exec vcepee of the Illinois Manufacturers' Ass'n; Maurice F. McElligott. secretary- treasurer Illinois State Industrial Union Council of the CIO; John Rus- sell. Regional Chief of Information of the WMC. and William Sullivan, Regional Information Executive of the WPB. Everett Holies, acting as moderator, threw such questions to them as "When Shall I Look for a Post-War Job'.'". "Will There Be Suf- ficient Jobs'. 1 ", "What Economic Pro- j tection Does the Defense Worker Have as Reconversion Is Adopted?"; | "Does the Veteran .Have Priority j Over the Civilian Who Has Replaced Him on a. Job?" and many others | regarding- job. issues pertinent *ta I both the civilian and the returning I soldier or sailor. '•■ Questions were met honestly by the spokesmen oh the panel with answers that couldn't help but clarify the issues for the listener. Holies, as moderator; kept the speak- ers in line and did not let them wander from the.subject. Succeed- ing program will take up the sub- jects of "What Can I Buy'.'". "The Returning Veteran," the food situa- tion, etc. Morg. "ATTENTION VETEBANS" 15 Mins.; Thurs., fi:,;o p.m. Sustaining WGY, Schenectady A new !ind timely public servicer of WGY. this one might be presented in more attractive form to gain and hold the attention of general listen- ers. The information offered—much ■of it sought in questions from vet- erans or members of their families- is interesting to them, but as broad- cast, it may not always have too wide an Outside appeal. Frank Mellen. representative for the Veterans Administration In Schenectady, is the regular ' miker. (Continued on pa'ge 40) .